Five Minutes to Midnight
by teamBLAZE
Summary: Neil was just too excited to finish the countdown concert once the clock struck midnight. Unless someone from the crowd makes him stay. AU oneshot for a Secret Santa gift to Imagine Believe.


**Hello, readers! As 2014 was ending, I had fancied myself to write this story as a gift to a fellow writer: Imagine Believe! This awesome pal of mine has been supporting my stories for this year, and I would like to show my appreciation by crafting this AU oneshot.**

**But, of course, this is for everyone to read. If you'll allow me.**

**I don't own anything in this story. I am merely a speck in this universe. XD**

**Enjoy!**

"I would rest those fingers tonight, if I were you."

Neil turned. Coming in from the door was Rod, hands full on a squirming large puppy. He sighed and put his bass guitar carefully on the couch. "Why are you bringing him out on New Year's Eve, Rod? There are fireworks later."

"I went to the vet before it closed for the countdown to have his vaccines." Rod squatted and allowed the puppy to roam around Neil's apartment. "And since you're close by, might as well visit." He grinned. "Strange that you said 'yes' to Echoes, Neil."

The offer came on a short notice. The bassist of Echoes, the alternative rock cover band playing for the countdown concert, had a vehicular accident two days ago. Troubled, the members sought for a temporary replacement. Rod had endorsed to the vocalist about his friend's hidden talent in the instrument, and so the entire band rushed to Neil's apartment to get his approval.

The puppy approached Neil and let him stroke the back of its ears. "It's been a while since I played. Besides, it must be better than staying here all night."

His ginger-haired friend chuckled. "Moping at home on New Year's Eve is a big no-no! Good thing you realized that." He glanced at the maroon bass guitar. "Were the Echoes great guys on practice?"

Neil shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I guess…they're pretty understanding with my pace." He raised his hands in defense when Rod stared at him knowingly. "Look, it's not in my plans to join a band. This is just 'til midnight, and I'll leave."

* * *

><p>"Neil, try adjusting the amplifier a little. The bass's too high."<p>

Neil crouched and turned the knobs on the medium-sized amplifier. He then plucked a few chords to try on the new settings.

"Yup, better." Someone—whose name Neil forgot—holding an orange electric guitar did a thumbs-up at him.

"Henry." A red-haired man approached them. "How about we do a test instrumental? Maybe two bars of 'Great Escape'."

"Yep, sure." He turned to Neil. "You remember the chords for that, right?"

Neil nodded. With their two days of practice together, he found out that Echoes would be performing a few sets of Boys Like Girls and Simple Plan. He had spent non-practice hours just to familiarize their songs.

Henry started the first few notes, followed by the drums. _My cue now._

His fingers danced through the thick strings in time with the percussions. For him, it somehow felt good to play the bass once more; the reason he appreciated the instrument was that it may not be heard often by inexperienced ears, but it is as vital as any part in the band.

The redhead tapped his foot with the beat until they made it to the second bar. "Good, good," he mouthed.

"Allen!"

The redhead whirled at the front of the stage. A blonde woman was waving at them. "It's nine already, and you guys haven't chowed yet!" she hollered. "Show's on ten thirty, you know!"

"OK, OK, we're on it." He clapped his hands to call their attention. "Everyone, how about we indulge ourselves to food? Rachel has prepared a feast, and let's not waste it."

Henry set down his guitar. "Yeah, I could go for some seafood."

_Shrimp would be nice. Especially chili._

They proceeded to a tent near the sound booth, where inside was a long table full of food. "Sponsored by Mister Clement and yours truly." The blonde grinned widely. "But no liquor 'til later! Drunk rockers won't last a set, ya know."

_I'll skip that. I'll be leaving earlier, anyway. _Neil peered over the table to find shrimp chili when the blonde stared at him. "W-what?" he stuttered.

"You're the replacement, right?" She extended her hand. "Name's Rachel. What's yours?"

"Neil." He didn't take it. Instead, he took a plate and scooped himself some shrimp chili. He overheard Rachel whisper to Allen, "Kinda snobby, huh? Might as well carry the attitude over the next year."

Neil decided to ignore it by leaving the tent. _Don't worry; I've had it my entire life._ He was getting used to the way people perceive his cold personality. Only a few had tolerated it—Rod, for example, though maybe it was because of the ginger's cheery outlook.

He trudged yards away from the backstage enjoying his late dinner. From a distance, he saw some young men busy doing the final pyrotechnic preparations. _They should've done this at daylight_, he thought in bewilderment.

"All right, everything set for the display?"

He turned to the female voice. A woman sporting goggles was approaching the young men. She seemed to be their in-charge, since she looked around the area while barking a few orders.

He could just turn away, but something had caught his attention: her hair was pink.

_Huh, unlikely. It could just be dyed._

* * *

><p>"Nice," Henry commented while watching the stage from the back. "I didn't know that could be a great break for music until now."<p>

They had performed two sets already, to which there were different performances in between to avoid monotony. The first one was a video presentation of the year's greatest scoops from a photographer who—in Neil's opinion—exaggeratedly described the events behind the pictures. The second one, which was happening at the moment, was a magic show done by a young woman awfully donned in pink.

Neil glanced at the magician as she flicked her cards to turn into pink confetti. He suddenly remembered the pink-haired firer he saw hours ago. _Haven't I seen enough of that color tonight?_

"All right," Allen broke his thoughts. "That's Michelle's last trick. It's time to own the stage once more." The band members followed him as the host acknowledged the magician's presence. Immediately, Neil went to his maroon bass guitar.

He wasn't feeling the nerves compared to the first song they did hours ago. He cringed remembering his minor mistakes then: he missed some beats, he almost loosened the audio jack, and he kept on playing even after Echoes finished the song. Allen, the one with the sharper ear, glared at him throughout the second one. _As if I did that on purpose. I…somehow got better at the next songs, didn't I? _He couldn't help scoffing. _Besides, they won't hear the last of me next year._

"Now, would you look at that?" He didn't realize the redhead had took the microphone and gestured at their backs.

Neil turned. There was a whitewall projecting a black screen, and digitally-printed six numbers separated by colons ticked off. _A timer?_ "It's almost twelve!" Allen faced the audience once more. "And for that, we count off five minutes to midnight!"

He had almost forgotten his cue. _That's the countdown song!_ Henry started the intro, to which everyone cheered loudly. Behind him, the timer went off at exactly five minutes.

Allen began to sing:

_Brown eyes and lungs are filled up with smoke_

_Fast lives are stuck in the undertow_

_But you know the places I wanna go_

_Cause oh oh oh_

_I've got a sickness, you've got the cure_

_You've got the spark I've been lookin' for_

_And I've got a plan, we walk out the door_

While Neil played, he turned to the front row of the audience. Just now, he noticed the pink-haired firer bobbing her head to the music. _Since when did she get here?_

_You know you wanna_

_Just let go_

_It's time to roll down the windows_

_Sing it oh oh_

_Got all we need so here we go_

The firer promptly removed her goggles. Maybe because of the lights, her scarlet irises glinted. Never in his life had he seen such eyes.

_Turn it up_

_It's five minutes to midnight_

_You're coming home with me tonight_

_I can't get enough_

_Shakin' me up_

_Turn it up_

_Alright, at five minutes to midnight_

_We'll see our name in city lights_

_We'll make the clock stop_

_Make your heart drop and come alive_

Unintentionally, their eyes met. Now that he had seen her face to face, he found out she displayed an air of passion. _She must've been affected by the music._ He somehow found it…contagious.

_We could_

_Pack up and leave all our things behind_

_No fact or fiction or storyline_

_Cause I need you more than just for tonight_

She started to sing along with Allen, just like the rest of the audience. Since she was closer, Neil could hear her shouting out the lyrics. _Her voice's…crisp._

_You're oh oh oh like air_

_I can't stop my breathing in_

_I'm weak and you were my medicine_

_I won't stop till I am under your skin_

He suddenly found himself playing with more vigor. He was feeling it once more; the high of being together with the beat. The band picked it up as well as they repeated the refrain and chorus.

Neil turned to the firer again. _How could I missed her; what with the color of her hair?_ Or was it?

_And when the clock strikes twelve_

_Will you find another boy to go and kiss and tell?_

_Cause you know I never will_

_I think we should strike a match_

_We'll hold it to the wind to and see how long it lasts_

_We can make the time stand still_

_Oh, yeah. When the clock will strike twelve, I'll be done here._ He stalled when the firer whipped up a radio and muttered something over it. He then turned back to the screen while Henry performed a solo. Less than two minutes left.

They had rehearsed this. Henry would perform an instrumental to lengthen the song time. The entire duration of the song would be four minutes and fifty seconds, so that the traditional ten-second count would be done.

_Why am I…getting worried now that it's almost midnight?_

After the drums, Allen resumed the chorus:

_Turn it up_

_It's five minutes to midnight_

_You're coming home with me tonight_

_I can't get enough_

_Shakin' me up_

_Turn it up_

_Alright, at five minutes to midnight_

_We'll see our name in city lights_

_We'll make the clock stop_

_Make your heart drop and come alive_

To Neil's surprise, she turned away from the stage and carefully made her way from the audience. _Wait, why is she leaving?_

_Turn it up_

_It's five minutes to midnight_

_You're coming home with me tonight_

_I can't get enough_

_Shakin' me up_

_Turn it up_

_Alright, at five minutes to midnight_

_We'll see our name in city lights_

_We'll make the clock stop_

_Make your heart drop and come alive_

* * *

><p>At the last chord, Neil put his bass guitar down. "Hey!" he heard Henry holler. "Where are you going?!"<p>

Everyone yelled, "TEN! NINE!" Neil ignored him and jumped off the stage from the right side. _Hurry, I might lose her on the crowd!_

"EIGHT! SEVEN!"

He looked around the audience still busy with counting down. Finally, he found the outstanding hair. _There! _Quickly, he excused himself to come through.

"SIX! FIVE!"

He was able to catch up when the woman made it to the clearing. It was then that she decided to jog forward. "Wait!" he called, but fell into deaf ears because of the loud countdown.

"FOUR! THREE!"

She stopped and raised a hand at the distant pyrotechnic crew, to which they returned the signal.

"TWO! ONE!"

Finally, he caught up to her and grabbed her hand. At the moment she whirled her head in surprise, the fireworks went off. _Whoa. She's…kinda pretty up close._

Neil felt her tugging her hand away from his grip. "Um…sorry," he stammered as he let go. "You can't just come near the fireworks."

She raised a brow. "You're the bassist, right?" she asked, raising her voice a little louder. "What are you doing here?"

_Yeah…what was I doing here?_ he wondered a little too late. Instead of answering sensibly, he absentmindedly replied, "I came…to ask your name."

Her scarlet eyes widened. Then, on the time the beautiful fireworks flashed across the night sky, she flashed a grin. "You silly guy! You know I can just tell you that after the fireworks! We can't hear each other here!"

Neil looked down out of embarrassment. She continued, "But, since you asked, it's Reine. Happy New Year."

When he perked up, he met her softer smile. "Um…I'm Neil. Happy New Year, too."

"So, Neil." Her view averted to the sky illuminated by the fireworks before returning to him. "Let's just finish the fireworks before finishing our chit-chat, OK?"

It took a minute before he nodded. _Well, I don't mind staying up longer._

**UWAAAAAAAH! This is awfully late to be considered as a Secret Santa Gift. [mutters nervously] Is…is this still counted?**

**Anyway, there we go. This is my first present this 2015, in hopes of great inspiration to write good stories for all of you readers! And to Imagine Believe, this was why I asked your permission to use your OC. Hehe. Happy New Year!**

**((By the way, the song's "Five Minutes to Midnight" by Boys Like Girls.))**


End file.
